Honey Bee's Bliss

Small Group Birthday Gift: Cell Phone Pouch

2012-01-25T16:43:00.001-08:00

Every year I make a gift for each girl in my small group at church. This year I will be making cell phone pouches for each of them. The common thing will be the fabric, each will have this black and white polka-dot but have differing embellishments to suit their personality. This girl loves vintage right now so I picked a vintage lace and embellished it with embroidery and beads.

Christmas Ornament for Wendy

2011-12-31T11:19:00.001-08:00

Every year I have a tradition to make and exchange a Christmas Ornament with Wendy! Here is what I made for her!
I used a red rose print with another red fabric that has tiny white polka dots. Then I added lace and embellishments! Lots of vintage on this heart!
Love you Wendy!

Little Embroidered Pillow

2011-09-19T14:02:00.001-07:00

I used a font to create a pattern and used a light box to transfer with a pen onto the flannel fabric. I then back-stitched it using a green perle cotton thread. I even sewed a little pocket on the back for a pouch of lavender to be tucked in.

Cover for my Tablet

2011-08-19T13:48:00.001-07:00

I used a polka dot print cotton fabric with some gorgeous coffee colored lace! Now I have a simple yet pretty cover for my tablet!

Flower Pin/Hairclip: Fay

2011-07-27T10:48:00.001-07:00

This flower I made using a couple of purple fabrics, some large hole tulle and some bits of purple lace. I glued a vintage style gem in the center!

Couple of Phone Pouches

2011-06-20T17:34:00.001-07:00

These pouches are for friends of mine who are mother and daughter! I think you can guess who's is who's by the appliqué!

Flower Pin/Hairclip: Randi

2011-06-02T13:45:00.001-07:00

Here is a simple sweet little flower made using three different green prints, topped with a fussy cut butterfly!

Flower Pin/Hairclip: Cheyenne

2011-06-01T16:43:00.001-07:00

For this flower I used a purple leopard print mixed with an organza print, and some purple netting. In the center is a silver flower sequin topped with a star sequin and a purple bead.

Flower Pin/Hairclip: Stephanie

2011-05-25T14:38:00.001-07:00

This flower is made using Black and White prints, a touch of red with some black lace, a pretty black button, and a couple of black feathers!

Pretty Pouches

2011-04-14T21:43:00.001-07:00

I whipped up a couple of pouches tonight just for fun. It feels good to have finished something pretty for no other reason than to just do it. I think these will probably end up in my purse, but they could end up little gifts too. LOL

Flower Pin/Hairclip: Ashley

2011-04-14T18:46:00.001-07:00

For this flower I used black velvet and lace with some pink and leopard print fabrics, finishing it off with a pink gem button and black feathers.

Flower Pin/Hairclip: Andrea

2011-04-13T11:25:00.001-07:00

This flower is made using black velvet and lace with some purple fabrics added in. The center is a folded piece of organza that is tacked into place.

Antique Clothes

2011-03-22T12:18:00.001-07:00

Aren't these dresses and boots so pretty? I just had to take photos and share!

Neat Antiques

2011-03-19T15:02:00.001-07:00

Aren't these items so neat? I saw these in an antique store they are a mini sewing machine, sewing scissors, bobbin lace pillow with bobbins and lace in progress.

Flower Pin/Hairclip: Hailey

2011-03-16T10:53:00.001-07:00

I made this flower with black cotton, black lace, and a shiny silver fabric. In the center I put a rectangular jewelry part. I thought that would make a great unusual look and feel. I love it! To me it reached "rock star" status!

Vintage Postcard

2011-03-15T17:11:00.001-07:00

Isn't this postcard so sweet? I got it for $1.50!

Yummy Lace

2011-03-15T16:48:00.001-07:00

I recently got to go shopping in a town called Orange which is known for having all kinds of special shops! I found all this delicious lace there!

Frayed Edge Fabric Flower

2011-03-03T10:00:00.000-08:00

First select fabrics that you would like to use. I keep a bin of scraps just for making these flowers. Even tiny pieces are useful for the centers. I'm just showing the steps I took to create this flower but I vary how I do it each time I create a flower so there is no set steps to take just a basic overall way of creating them.

I like to take a stack of fabric that will act as my back layers of the flower. This also varies in amount and size depending on the look and feel I want to end up with.

I cut out a round-ish scalloped flower shape. I don't use a pattern or guide I just eyeball it and cut scallops out in the form of a sort of circle. You can always fix it as you go if a "petal" is too big or out of wack.

This doesn't have to be exact in fact I like it to be imperfect or oval because as I stack them I can offset and rotate each layer a little different from the others.

Crumple the cut out flower shapes and roll them in your hand like you would a piece of dough. This helps fray the edges. If they need extra fraying just pick at the edge with the tips of your finger.

I start stacking, rotating, layering to form the flower. I sometimes cut one flower shape a little smaller, and I always graduate the size from large to smaller towards the center of the flower.

From here I go by how it looks and feels. It's constantly changing as I add pieces of fabric. I like to use triangle pieces too or long thing scraps sticking out of the layers.

As you can see I added a couple of triangular bits and putting them under a layer of flower shaped fabric.

I'm constantly adding to this stack and adjusting to create the flower.

Here I cut out some smaller lighter pink flower shapes.

Crumpled and rolled them to fray the edges.

Now they are ready to layer.

I added another triangle of fabric behind those as well.

I realized they were a bit too small so I off set them to take up more space. See it's not an exact science but just going with the flow. If something doesn't work you don't have to use it. Just put it back into your scrap bin for another project!

On top of this I add random bits and pieces some are rectangular some are pieces that were leftover from cutting out flower shapes. You can add lace bits too or yarn, thread, anything to fill in the middle.

I added in a larger light pink flower shape to the back layers since I felt it needed it.

At this point I felt it was ready to be sewn together.

I slide it under the foot of my sewing machine to the center of the flower.

Lower the foot and sew a little line, reverse, forward and stop at the center with your needle down. Lift the foot and rotate. Lower the foot and sew forward, reverse, forward again. To create an X in the center of the flower.

The X is to sew all the layers and keep them in place. Once you have that finished you can trim the thread tails off!

As you can see it doesn't have to be perfect just functional.

I then ruffle and crumple to puff up all the layers!

I then add a little something to the center, this time I used a large pearl, but I've used all kinds of things! I've used buttons, a tassel created from metallic thread, lace, charms, sequins, beads, pretty much anything you can imagine or thing would look pretty in the center. I've also attached feathers or leaf shaped fabric to the back too. The possibilities are endless!

From here you can use it any way you'd like, sew it onto something or make it into a pin or hair clip by attaching findings to the back.

I hope this inspires you to create some flowers! It got me saving all my tiny scraps, but you know it's neat to actually use those scraps instead of throwing them away!

Cell Phone Pouch

2011-03-02T15:29:00.000-08:00

Lilla has a tutorial on her blog for how to make a folded fabric pouch so I learned how to make it and then created a pouch for my cell phone!!! I just got a new phone for my birthday and I don't want it to get scratched in my purse so this was a great solution...and pretty! ;)

I used my own measurements for the pouch though so that it would fit my phone well. I used a 25inches long strip by 4 inches wide. The finished size is 5x3.5, my wonderful hubby helped me figure out the math! LOL

I added a liner of microfiber. I didn't know any other way other than just sewing up a liner and then blind stitching it into place. I used a microfiber cloth bought from the 99cents store and cut it up. I figure this way it's a soft cleaning lining that is a little cushion too.

Here is the back you can't even see the tiny stitches to sew in the lining. I wish I had lined up the print better so it would be seen on the back too but I'm not good at guessing those things and it was my first time sewing something like this up. I'll need practice to be able to do it better.

On the front I added some vintage laced to the flap as I sewed it up. Then as a closure I used a bracelet toggle clasp set of a hummingbird and a wreath. It's perfect not too much trouble to use and it doubles as a pretty embellishment too!

Flower Pin/Hairclip: Krystal

2011-02-28T10:00:00.000-08:00

I have another flower for a birthday girl named Krystal! Krystal's favorite colors are yellow and orange so I used a golden yellow silk fabric with some yellow and orange organza pieces and a leopard print that is pink/orange/black!

In the center is a red mother of pearl button with a green flower bead, a yellow flower bead, and a peach pearl in the center! The center also dangles!

I sew on a strip of fabric on the back and use it to attach the hair-clip and pin-backing with E6000 glue.

My Nephew Tristan

2011-02-27T19:36:00.000-08:00

My nephew Tristan with the blankets I embellished for him!!! Isn't he cute!!!

Tea Party Piece: Starting the Applique

2011-02-27T14:00:00.000-08:00

Okay I finally got to sewing all the blocks together marking the 18 inch square and sewing this large block onto a piece of muslin! It's not perfect but you know I have to focus on the fact that no one will ever know once it is embellished!!! I am definitely NOT a seamstress...but I do need a canvas to work on and so I love crazy quilting for the creative embellishment and needlework aspect more than the sewing!!! LOL

I made copies of the teapot, sugar, and creamer cut them out a bit and placed them overlapping how I wanted them to be. I wanted them to be a little over sized for the middle block and you can see just the tips and handles are poking out. I taped them together and drew in the lines that were being overlapped. I then made a copy of that to use for tracing and cutting out all the fabric pieces.

I needed some way to keep track and know where each piece was to be placed and in what order so I used some quilters paper and traced the design onto it. I marked the order of layering of the pieces, and I also basted the paper into place. I'm not sure how I'll do this I'm just winging it as I go I think I'll tear away the excess and baste as I go etc. to keep things in place. I've never done applique like this before and I kind of feel out of my element but I'll learn something new as I do this and wing it as I go. There's not really any rule book for how to applique onto crazy quilting...LOL!

I used a lightbox with the copied design to trace each piece onto fabric and cut it out.

Here are all the pieces!!! Isn't it cute!!! I picked matching fabric only for the lid and foot of the teapot and handles and feet of the creamer and sugar. The body of the teapot is a different fabric from the creamer and sugar. I like my tea things to compliment but not be too matchy-matchy. Plus how would you see the different items if they were all the same fabric?

Now to start actually appliqueing everything into place...wish me luck...I think I'm going to need it! ;)

P.S. If anyone has any tips or ideas for how to do this better, please let me know!

Amanda's Crazy Quilt Heart

2011-02-26T22:50:00.000-08:00

Amanda wanted to make something special for a gift and wanted to make something Crazy Quilted and loved the idea of a heart. It was also near Valentine's Day so it was perfect. The giftee loves purple so she chose all purple fabrics!

Next came embellishments she sewed all the things that could be by machine first like the lace, fabric flower, bow, crochet heart, etc. Then we put it in a hoop and she hand sewed on the little bits that couldn't be done by machine like the buttons and sequins.

After the embellishments were done we cut out the heart and then took bits of lace to sew by machine around the edges to make it a nice finished heart!

This is the heart finished after sewing the lace around the outer edge!

After that I gave her the suggestion of maybe adding feathers and she LOVED that idea so here is the final result with a bit of feathers peeking out from behind one corner!

And it just goes to show how you can create a wonderful crazy quilt project without using ANY embroidery! Yup it's all embellishments of lace, buttons, sequins, feathers, eyelash yarn, and some fabric bits to create the flower in the upper right!

Tea Party Piece: Coming Together!

2011-02-12T16:25:00.000-08:00

After each block was pieced I basted them outside the 6 inch block line and then cut them down to 7 inch blocks which will give me a nice and large seam allowance to sew them together!

Once I cut them all down I started playing with placement and this is what I ended up deciding on! I just fiddle, flip, turn, and switch the blocks until I feel everything is as balanced as it can be!

I also love to see the photo at this stage it gives me a better "birds eye view" and overall feel!

I'm really adoring this piece it just feels so cheerful and sweet the perfect atmosphere of a tea party with dear friends!

Now that I think of it, I think this is a good description of the reason why I didn't piece any tea prints into my blocks. I like that the fabrics in rose prints, pinks, and greens give an "atmosphere" for building a tea party with embellishments. This way I don't have to worry about covering over tea prints with embellishments too.

In this photo you can see I cut out the prints of tea cups which I plan to applique on the piece. This is just a "tryout" to give me an idea of how I'll do things. I'm hoping that the prints will look okay when I applique them in place. I'm a little worried because of the gold lines, I think I'll have to try to applique up next to them but not right on them...hmm sounds tricky...we shall see.

The rose print fabric I have folded in the center is what I'm considering making the teapot out of. Once I have all the blocks sewn together I will work on the center applique of a teapot and creamer and sugar. Then I'll probably applique all the teacups on and start embellishment.

Wow this piece is HUGE but I love it, it's going to be so fun to work on! I'm also thinking of getting a huge quilters hoop to work on this...we'll see how that goes too!

Tea Party Blocks Being Pieced: The Rest

2011-02-12T15:51:00.000-08:00

Here are the remaining 5 of 8 blocks! Now I've just got to sew them all together to create one large piece. Normally people embellish each block and then sew them all together but just like with Fairy Treasure I want this one to have that same whole-cloth feel instead of a separate blocks feel. So that is why I'm going to sew them all together first! There are pros and cons to each method and for what I want the pros weigh in favor of sewing them together FIRST! LOL

Tea Party Blocks Being Pieced

2011-02-07T12:36:00.000-08:00

Here's a bunch of fabrics I picked out for piecing. Usually I do that using an inspiration fabric which is the rose fabric I'm using as the center of each block. I don't usually use all the fabrics I pick out but I like to have the options as I do piece and I try to have unity for the blocks. As I started I ended up leaving out the yellow fabric and a couple of fabrics that didn't feel right after all. So far I've pieced 3 of 8!

I also finally got the Teapots 2 to Applique book and I have an idea to have a Teapot with a creamer and sugar in the center! Then around the center will be teacups and tea things and goodies!!! This is going to be so much fun!!! Also I'm thinking of using my inspiration rose print fabric as the main body of the teapot, we will see how it goes!

The piece of Dupioni silk fabric on the bottom of this block is really neat it's both green AND pink at the same time!!! So sometimes you see more green other times you see more pink but usually you see green with a tinge of pink like this photo!

Tea Party Piece Brewing!

2011-01-24T13:55:00.000-08:00

I have a Tea Party themed piece brewing!!! It's been in my brain for a long time to do a tea party themed piece and I feel that now is the right time to get it going! I've started collecting some things with it in mind. I've had the 2 tea themed fabrics that you see at in the top of the photos for a few years now and have used them in a couple of projects. One was a tea cozy for a friend which I ADORE it was so amazing! And the other I used in a little block that is now hanging framed in my guest bathroom!

I saw the fabric with all the tea cups and had to have a piece of it! I thought they would make great appliques! Then recently I was looking through fabrics and that sweet rose print stood out and I just KNEW that was going to be my inspiration fabric. Shades of Pinks, Greens and a touch of yellow and cream I think will be my color theme! Now I still need to gather fabrics to possibly use in piecing and begin! We will see how things turn out as I piece.

I decided I want a large piece put together in 9 blocks. Each block will be 6 inches to create an 18x18 finished piece which will be framed.

I'd also love to get this Tea Pots 2 to Applique book and applique a tea pot etc. on the piece!

I've also had Tea Parties! And I collect Antique China which the patterns inspire me!

More Accessories!

2011-01-21T10:00:00.000-08:00

Here's Kaity! She has a very unique style and loved the idea of flower hair clips so we made a few and this is one of them. She picked the fabrics and I layered them as she liked it and added feathers that she chose too. At the time I didn't think to take photos of them (3 total) so I'll have to take photos as she wears them. It was with her that I developed the new method for creating the flowers!

These are the flowers that we made together for her set of boots! She chose the fabrics for these too and I layered them to form the flower as she liked it. In the centers is a green flower with a pale orange pearl.

Here's another photo of my boot accessories! I added a "belt" of the red/white polka-dot fabric and pinned it around with the flower!

Elizabeth's Flower Accessory

2011-01-20T10:00:00.000-08:00

Having fun creating her flower!!!

Stitching on her leaf sequin and star button to the center!

Here is her creation!!! We also attached a hair clip to the back.

Antique Lace on Handbag

2011-01-19T10:00:00.000-08:00

I got this damask painted jute tote at Hobby Lobby and added a piece of antique lace to a corner! I get to see it and enjoy it and I can always remove it and reuse the lace when the handbag wears out!!!

The antique lace is so neat and completely hand made!!! I absolutely adore it!

Flowers and Hearts Block: Finishing Touches

2011-01-18T10:00:00.000-08:00

I finally completed the finishing touches!!! YAY! What I did was add more purple details!

I added a purple beaded flower near the dragonfly which is made of bugle beads and one seed bead. I also added colonial knots inside the tatted rings in a purple buttonhole twist silk thread.

Using the same purple buttonhole twist silk thread I stitched scallops in stem stitch and added purple silk ribbon sweetheart roses and colonial knots.

I also added some stars using the same purple buttonhole twist silk thread and the same purple silk ribbon colonial knots to the centers that also repeats the feel of the beaded flower in the opposite corner.

Misc. Accessories

2011-01-17T14:02:00.000-08:00

Here's another flower I created using lace and a polka-dot fabric!

Another hair accessory!!! This one uses an beaded applique and a white feather and is attached to a bobby pin.

I'm heading to winter camp with our youth group and me and another leader and her daughter all have the same snow boots so we needed some way to tell our boots apart. So I created some small simple flowers that just have a safety pin on the back and can be attached anywhere on the boot! My set will be the red flowers, the other leader's set is the black and white flowers, and the daughter is coming over to make hers!

I saw these scraps and thought they looked cute put together in this way...not sure what I will use it for but I just think it's a pretty ornament of some sort!

Flowers and Hearts Block: More Details

2011-01-16T00:21:00.000-08:00

I needed a little something in this spot so I added a mother-of-pearl heart with purple delica's around it and purple flower sequins to top it off!

I also added a little honeybee charm to remind her of me! I stitched a running stitch flight path in a metallic thread. I also added another feather coming out toward the bee even though it covered a bit of rose print. I don't like covering pretty prints unless I really have to and there was no way around it.

I also used a pink metallic thread and added highlights to the rose print around the dragonfly.

I added a silk ribbon bow to the silkie and some tiny size 15 seed beads one for her earring and one on her necklace the chain of which I used a metallic thread. I also stitched in the bouquet in sweetheart roses and colonial knots in silk ribbon embroidery and added a touch of white french knots too.

I also added some silk ribbon embroidery at the base of the silkie creating more sweetheart roses and knots along with added tiny green seed beads and a fire-polished heart bead.

I still feel the block needs more but I'm not sure just what that is yet. I've been letting it sit on the back-burner of my brain for a few days so hopefully it will come to me when the time is right. Just like putting together a puzzle sometimes you leave and come back and BAM you find the exact piece that was missing that you searched for previously! LOL

Flower Pin/Hairclip: Correna

2011-01-15T18:45:00.000-08:00

This year for my girl's birthdays in Small Group (Church Youth Group) I'm making flowers as pins or hair clips. This flower is for Correna and it's totally HER! Most of my girls adore the funky styles so I've bought a lot of funky print fabrics. I've also started making the flowers a little differently than before, but I'll have to save the explanation for another post with photos of the steps. I've simplified the process a ton, which makes them easier to put together and faster to make.

On the back I sew a little strip down slip the clip in with a touch of glue to keep it in place and then glued on a pin back with a bit of fabric over it too. Dual Use!

The flower is 4in x 4in pretty big!

Lace Headband

2011-01-14T18:41:00.000-08:00

I absolutely adore this lace and I use a lot of it in my crazy quilting so I had a large motif cut out and stashed in my lace bin. Well one day I saw a headband for sale that used a vintage applique and loved it so much that it gave me the idea to make my own! I love to be able to insert my favorite things into my style/wardrobe and headbands are one accessory I love to use.

Here's how I created it: I bought some blank metal headbands (came in a set of 3) and sewed the lace onto the band. You can see my stitches in the photo below. I also let part of the bottom free to float away from the band. I'll have to make more headbands and clips from some of my fave bits in my stash!!!

Flowers and Hearts Swap: Kathy's Block

2011-01-07T10:00:00.000-08:00

I'm doing a private 8 inch block exchange with Kathy, the theme is Flowers and Hearts! I sent her This Block and she sent me this one...(which I forgot to take a photo of it blank)
Click on any of the photos to see them larger.

The block is made up of a lot of prints that compete with each other and that was a bit of a challenge for me when trying to start! With competing prints you have to find a way for them to go into the background a bit more without them being too hidden or them swallowing up the stitching. Also the few more solid fabrics stood out too much and they needed to blend into the block more.
In this first photo you can see I added some lace that I hand dyed and sewed to the top right corner. In the lower left corner I added some tatting that I had created with a veriageted pink thread. I sewed the tatting on and added some purple beads to alternating rings down the middle.

I also added a dragonfly lace applique that I hand dyed as well to the upper left, filling in the gap in the print there.
I also needed a focal point for the block so I added a silkie of a girl with flowers with more lace I hand dyed

I added around the silkie some vintage purple flower trim and a piece of white feather.

I've also added some more of my tatting that was made using a purple variegated thread to the silkie as well as another feather on the other side. I also added some little flowers to the hand dyed lace applique.

I also added some of the purple variegated tatting to the seam under the dragonfly. I sewed on some white lace in the lower right and purple lace in the lower left.

I feather stitched in some green holographic thread in the dragonfly's wings. I wish the camera captured the sparkle of the thread better.

I added the same little flowers to the other alternating rings of the pink tatting.

Atop the white lace in the lower right I added a white feather with a green gem on top then added a piece of jewelery component that looked like a bow with two gold bugle beads to act as the tails of the bow.

I also added some little pink fire-polished glass hearts down one seam that I'm not sure I'm finished with yet. I also added some purple flower sequins with a darker purple seed bead to the other seam to the right.
I'm not finished with this block yet but this is my progress so far...more to come!

Baby Stuff for Nephew Tristan

2011-01-06T16:23:00.000-08:00

I took a plain Bib and cut out a cute lizard design from some fabric.

Sewed it into place...

How cute is that? But it needed something more...

So I cut out a 'T' from the same fabric and sewed it down too!

I also put 'T's on a couple of baby blankets too and embellished them! One got green flannel fabric with colorful buttons, and the other got pale blue flannel and a couple green flannel leaves with one little yellow button!
These got sent off to my sister who is expecting Tristan to arrive any day now!

2010 ESD Enchanted Challenge: Fairy Treasure - Left Side of Piece

2010-12-26T08:00:00.000-08:00

WOW there is a lot to explain!!! I'll start from the top, in the left top corner I created a bead embroidery vine. The vine stem is made with a metallic thread stem stitched on and then I added seed bead leaves with short bugle beads in the centers of the leaves. Then I added some little treasured items hanging from the vine! There are a couple keys, a piece from a necklace, and a couple of earrings! The Cameo earring is very special to me. I bought it in Italy with my allowance money when I was a kid(I think I was about 10 at the time)! I loved earrings when I was younger but now I never wear any at all! LOL I'm more a necklace girl now! LOL So I put this special memory onto this piece since it will be hung as art in my home!!!

I added a bit more to this motif since the last you saw it! I added some necklace parts and beads! You can also see the button cluster I added over the top of the hand dyed lace I incorporated around the piece to act as moss along with another key!

I like how in this photo you can see the path your eye travels up the metal flower motif to the green silk ribbon and bead flower motif, then up the button cluster to the beaded vine!

Now we are to the middle left of the piece!

I LOVE this metal flower motif!!! I knew I needed something there but at the time I didn't know what would be just right, when I saw a necklace I had that one of the rhinestones had fallen out of one of the flowers and I hadn't yet fixed it! I grabbed up the necklace and brought it over for tryouts...sure enough I loved the idea of it there! BUT it didn't work as is so what I did was take apart all the components of the necklace and place them how I thought looked best! I also added other metal bits and leaves that I have in my stash to complete the motif! It took a lot of stitching using invisible thread to get ALL the little parts sewn down into place!!!
I found a beautiful set of keyholes with keys and this keyhole was one of my faves! I sewed it on with a little bit of silk velvet behind the hole.
You can see a gorgeous green gem that I tucked in on top of the silk velvet patch just below that is a cretan stitch seam treatment in another of the challenge packet's threads which is a gold silk thread! Over the top is part of a bellflower vine motif!

For the bellflower vine I used a vine trim that I sewed down using a running stitch in a gold metal thread along the stem. Then I added bellflower bead-caps with crystal beads in the centers.

Now we are to the lower left of the piece! You can see a good view of the bellflower vine wandering in this section!

I added rhinestones to the center of the little flower motif I blogged about here. I think they added a touch of that extra sparkle I love! I also added one of my favorite little bee beads!

I also added some extra green feather stitching to this bottom patch along with a set of pearl earrings! I got a whole set of pearls (necklace, bracelet, earrings) for Christmas one year but I don't wear earrings anymore so these found the perfect home on Fairy Treasure!

Follow Me on Facebook

2010-12-21T17:20:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone, I noticed that lately I've been updating facebook more often than my blog and I enjoy that part of everyday updates, little tid bits of what I'm doing or thinking and I thought why not merge the two by creating a facebook fan page for my blog! The benefit of a fan page is that I can give updates and chat on the wall but not having to add everyone in the world as a friend to do so. So I created one! Now I can do little blog updates that won't clutter my blog with chatter, but give you a little more personal insight into what I'm working on everyday! So if you enjoy that type of update become my "fan"! I think it will help encourage me to do more too! I need motivation!!! LOL ***recently facebook changed it from "become a fan" to "like" so LIKE my page to get updates LOL ;)
My Facebook Fan Page

Christmas Gift: SRE Embellished Family Portrait-Finished

2010-12-18T17:20:00.000-08:00

Yay!!! I finally got it finished just in time for our gift exchange! Here it is all framed!
Now let me show you the progress from where I left off last!

I added vines in! I created them by drawing them freehand with an air-erasable fabric pen and then stem stitched them in using 1 strand DMC floss! Next I used 4mm green silk ribbon and added ribbon stitch leaves. To get nice looking leaves I start at the tip and work backwards trying to keep them evenly spaced as I go.

Next I added more ribbon stitch leaves to the floral frames. Also I added some flower buds in yellow to fill in any extra gaps left open. I used yellow 4mm silk ribbon in a 3 wrap French knot for the buds.
After all that the very last thing I added was some green seed beads to the vines to give it the perfect finishing touch!

Here is what it looks like with the matting around it!

I attached it to the backing of the frame which was a normal store bought frame you add photos to. I didn't do anything special just took large zig-zag stitches across the back to pull the fabric tight into place on the backing.

Usually I like to cover the back with a wrapping paper to make it look prettier but since the hanging wire was on the backing instead of the frame part I just left it as it...which doesn't look too bad to me this time.
After all that I printed up a label with my name, signature, and date with a special word "Cherished". I also enhanced it a bit by adding a touch of glitter to the word Cherished, the bird, and the heart on the letter!

Christmas Gift: SRE Embellished Family Portrait-Progress

2010-12-09T13:48:00.000-08:00

I started on this Christmas Gift and took photos of my progression of silk ribbon embroidery around the photos!
First I started with some Sweetheart Roses done in 7mm light pink silk ribbon.
Then I started adding yellow 4mm Sweetheart Roses in clusters of three.

Next I started adding random Sweetheart Roses in a 4mm dark pink silk ribbon.

After that I started adding in a medium pink 4mm silk ribbon Sweetheart Roses also in random places. I wanted the feel of a picked bouquet.

Here is a photo of all the Sweetheart Roses all around in all the colors!

I changed my plan from adding little blue silk ribbon flowers to adding little blue beaded flowers instead! I created tiny forget-me-nots in size 15 seed beads in a lovely blue with gold centers.
That was a lot of work to get done but I'm still not finished!!! I still need vines coming out of the center and leaves etc.

Kid's Christmas Gift Pillows

2010-11-24T13:53:00.000-08:00

My dear friend Wendy has 3 kids who ADORE handmade gifts! Seriously they love the handmade ones more than any toy, it's amazing! So I enjoy making gifts for them! Here are their pillows I created for them for Christmas, each one unique to them!
Joseph is the oldest so I used a Camouflage Flannel print and then Appliqued a bright green 'J' (which looks lighter in the photo it's more vivid in person) and I found a cool lizard print fabric that I cut out a couple of lizards from and one I appliqued on with the 'J' and the other I sewed into a stuffed toy!

Rebekah is the middle kid and loves all things girly and sweet! I used a sweet rose bud print flannel fabric for her pillow. Also I used a bit more of a fancy font for her 'R' and cut out a scene from a print in a oval shape and appliqued that on as well. The eye cover I bought and just set it on the corner, funny thing about Rebekah is she actually wears an eye cover when she sleeps!!! LOL I also thought it was neat that it had the word 'relax' on it that also starts with 'R' LOL!

Jeremy is the baby so I used a cute monkey print with a camouflage background flannel fabric for his pillow and I appliqued a bright banana yellow 'J'! Then I cut 2 of the monkeys out and sewed them into a little stuffed toy that I then attached to a "vine" of fuzzy yarn and sewed into the top seam of the pillow. That way the monkey won't get lost and he swings around playfully!

2010 ESD Enchanted Challenge: Fairy Treasure - Right Side of Piece

2010-11-22T18:05:00.000-08:00

The lower right got a little more added than the last time I posted about it. It now had a couple of keys tucked in and the scallop seam treatment has a bit more added to it.

Along the right edge I put a piece of dyed lace to act as moss and a double sequin butterfly.

Here is a closer look at the fern with the 2 keys tucked in around it!

The scallops got a fine lazy daisy and stright stitches in between them and some beaded leaves on the rounded parts. I also added some little yellow Fargo Flowers (not the same as the Sweet Heart Rose but similar) from JBM's Floral Stitches book on page 94.

Here is a closer look at the crystal heart "necklace" I added using one of the challenge fibers that is couched down with a gold thread in tiny running stitches. A couple more double sequin butterflies are fluttering about it as well!Here's a look at the fluttering of double sequin butterflies! What I did was use 2 of the same shaped sequin and overlapped them. Underneath is a gold one and over it is a clear one which calmed the tone of the gold and even added a greenish tinge making the butterflies just perfect!
You can also see another key tucked in this area. I also added some green feather stitches as background greenery.

I added a large vine that I created by a feather stitch wandering about and then I added ribbon stitch leaves to each arm and then added gold bead caps with gold pearls for flowers.

I added a piece of feather trim with another key tucked in on top of it. Also below the feathers is a fancy button on top of some rushed fiber from the challenge package.

I added a gorgeous bee buzzing about and above the bee is a seam of cretan stitch in shiny gold thread.

I added a little floral motif over the top of some more of the dyed lace acting as moss. The motif is made using stem stitch for the stems, lazy daisies as the leaves with seed beads added to the centers, and for the flowers is 5 petals of ribbon stitch with a slight loop left on the tips and a gold seed bead in the center.

I tucked in a bit more feather stitching at the top. In the center is a Keyhole that I added gold glitter to the center since I didn't like what was in the center previously. I think the glitter adds the the magical feel!
To the left of the keyhole is a piece of hand dyed lace and a string of pearls. The original set of pearls was too large so I removed the clasp and added my own gold pearls and sewed it all down!
WOW that was a lot to look at and explain!!! And yet I still have so much more to share!!!
More to come...

Christmas Gift: SRE Embellished Family Portrait

2010-11-19T15:14:00.000-08:00

This year for a Secret Santa gift exchange I got a sweet lady who has 4 adorable kids! So I got the idea to use a couple of their family photos and create something special with it. The finished project will be framed. For the background I used a sweet polka dot print and ironed on some photos printed on fabric sheets made for this. I also cut the photos into ovals. My plan is to do a lot of Silk Ribbon Embroidery around the photos and make it really special.

At the top I wanted the word "Family" so I used a word processing program to print out "Family" in the French Script Font. I then used a light box and traced it onto the fabric with pencil.
I stitched in the word using 1 strand green DMC floss in Stem Stitch and then started adding bead embroidery to the spaces of each letter. I used tiny size 15 seed beads.

My Annual Christmas Ornament Creations

2010-11-14T10:00:00.000-08:00

This was all created Oct.1 but I haven't had the chance to blog it until now!!!
On the far right is the collaboration ornament of Elizabeth and me and the other 2 to the left are the ones I created while she was having fun creatin g!

Here's my first one which I choose to keep for myself. Every year I make Christmas Ornaments: One for our tree, one for Wendy, and one for the annual Ladies Ornament Exchange at our church.

This is the second one I made and Wendy loved it so it will be hers!

This last one was created after I saw Allie Aller's Crumb Piecing Tutorial! I just took all the scraps from my and Elizabeth's creations, crumb pieced them and then cut it down into a square. I think it still needs a few extra sparkly embellishments before it's totally finished but it is really cute as is too!

Elizabeth's Christmas Ornaments!

2010-11-13T16:19:00.000-08:00

This was all created Oct.1 but I haven't had the chance to blog it until now!!!
This is Elizabeth!

She LOVES to create stuff!

She wanted to learn to sew so we started with a small CQ heart to turn into an ornament, but she almost despaired when she saw how her heart was turning out. When I looked at it I didn't see it as "messed up" I saw the start of the style of fiber art I see online all the time so I suggested that she sew bits of lace on random fashion like Lilla LeVine does! She loved that idea and here is the result! I told her this was the perfect example of what my Art Teacher would always say "Art is making order out of chaos!".

Isn't it amazing!!! I loved it so much that she let me have it for my own Christmas tree! How special it's truly a treasure to me! I suggested adding some embellishments to make it extra pretty and she didn't feel like doing that but said I could go ahead and do that part! LOL She's not into fine detail work yet, but I remember being that way myself! LOL
Here is the finished Ornament after I added a few finishing embellishments. I think our collaboration turned out to be a wonderful memory that I will cherish every year as I place it on my tree!

Here's three other ornaments she made and this time she sewed on some embellishments! Aren't they so creative and cute!?! Every year our church does a Ladies Ornament Exchange and she says she's going to use these as her Ornaments as a set.

She also whipped together a couple of blocks to stick in her school binder.

Next post I'll show you the ornaments I made while she was making hers!!!

2010 ESD Enchanted Challenge: Fairy Treasure - Center Motif

2010-11-09T12:18:00.000-08:00

Well, here's a better look at the center motif! You can click on any of the photos to see them larger.
This was the last part of the whole block I worked on which made it difficult but I don't really see how I could have worked on it first. I needed the inspiration of the whole block to really know what I wanted to do there! Sometimes you just can't control how your creative process flows no matter how badly you want to! LOL And even after leaving it for last I had a vague idea of what I wanted but no solid ideas to get it done. Then I finally got the idea to place vintage earrings around and put foliage in around them. The problem was I had run out of vintage jewelery!!! So I went to my local antique store and found some pieces that looked great in the area. Some of the earrings needed the large clip on backs taken off so that they would sit on the block well. My husband used his Dremel to remove them! ♥
I also used some vintage marquee shape montees and a large rhinestone.

For the foliage I used 2 shades of green silk ribbon and worked them in a french knot with a loop left at the top. Usually with that combination stitch there is an added french knot in floss added to make a little flower. I also created a few of those flowers as you can see in the above photo. All those knot/loop leaves were a pain to create for sure! LOL They are very finicky and can get snagged and pulled too tight too easy, but that was the look I wanted and so I trudged on creating them!

I also created a couple long leaves on each side with the same ribbon in a long twisted ribbon stitch that I couched with a little seed bead. The flowers I created to go with them are created using 3 straight stitches with 2 colors ribbon and the stems made with one strand floss with a french knot at the base of the flower.

2010 ESD Enchanted Challenge: Fairy Treasure - FINISHED!!!

2010-11-05T17:50:00.000-07:00

Well I'm all finished!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAY!!! I just sent off all the photos to Carolyn!
For now I'll just put these large overall photos and one of the middle and I'll start blogging more detail! I kinda fell off of blogging as I went for a while, life got pretty crazy and when that happens you can only do as much as you can do! My priority was at least to keep working so I could get it finished in time. So now that I'm finished, and things are starting to settle down I'll start blogging the details of this piece!

I'm so thrilled how it turned out!!! It's so special! To finish it I hand sewed silk velvet strips on and mitered the corners by hand and then hand sewed the floral trim in place as well. It's being framed so the velvet is the matting.
If you look closely you will find all kinds of special things, jewels, earrings, keyholes, keys, bees, butterflies, flowers, lockets and buttons! I did a lot of new to me techniques and streatched myself by creating motifs and flowers that are not my typical go-to flowers!

I used lots of vintage jewelery, the center has earrings all around with loop-knot leaves and sweet flowers tucked in.
Click on the photos to see each them closer!

2010 ESD Enchanted Challenge: Fairy Treasure - Challenge Thread

2010-09-22T12:44:00.000-07:00

In the challenge we are to use half the threads and fibers, this sometimes presents a tough spot to be in thus creating the "challenge" LOL! For me I want to stay withing the color theme of my piece and some of those threads don't fit that at all! That being said I have to use some to meet the requirements, but at the same time I don't want to compromise my vision!

So I started using the overdyed challenge thread (which is really nice to work with BTW) for a half circle blanket stitch. That alone wasn't enough you could see obvious pink and blue shades so I started fiddling with it to see if I could fool the eye into thinking you aren't really seeing colors that don't go. What I came up with was to do a second blanket stitch half circle over the top of the first one and then add a green pearl! AND IT WORKED!!! You still see the colored thread underneath but it feels right, and not like a compromise, the impression is of green stronger than other colors yet those colors are still there peeking from under the green wool thread!
I'm happy that I met the challenge while keeping the color theme of my piece!

2010 ESD Enchanted Challenge: Fairy Treasure - Bead Flower Motif

2010-09-12T10:00:00.000-07:00

Here is a motif I created to use some of the beads in the challenge packet. She didn't include very many beads to choose from only 3 types and 2 of them would look totally wrong on my block since they aren't within my color theme. BUT there were some yellow flower beads that would work but they had a more greenish tint to them rather than the more golden yellow I'm using. So what I did was find other flower beads in my stash that were green and yellow and I mixed them all together and started a flower bead motif which I added silk ribbon to and some french knot spikes and a few "found" trinkets and treasures.

For leaves I created a puffy leaf by doing a looped french knot just like for the little french knot flowers BUT I didn't add a second french knot with thread but just left it looped.

You see the yellow flower that looks kinda stripped at the tip of the motif? That is the challenge packet's bead flower. I used 3 of each flower bead in the motif.

To all that I added a couple of gems a little working locket, and a key.

2010 ESD Enchanted Challenge: Fairy Treasure - Beaded Vine

2010-09-11T10:00:00.000-07:00

Finally finished the beaded vine! The leaves are tiny size 15 seed beads, 6 on one side, come back up through the last bead add 4 more and go back through the last bead, and then added a half bugle bead to the center! Then since the side beads kept popping up around the bugle bead I had to tack each side down. I also added by alternating sides some embossed beads. I love how it meanders and it's so sparkly, I love sparkle!

Here's a small shot of my workspace!

Flower Pin: Amanda

2010-09-10T10:00:00.000-07:00

Every year I choose something to create as birthday gifts for the girls in my small group at youth group! This year I'm going to create flower pins! First is Amanda she LOVES green so I created a lovely green with a splash of yellow, and used a fancy vintage metallic black/silver glass button for the center!

I'm considering creating extra pins to put up for sale in my Etsy Shop as a fundraiser for my small group girls! We buy each girl a Bible as they become a regular (four consecutive attendances) and we use fund-raising to help buy them. Another thing we fund-raise for is Camps both Summer and Winter Camp but it's difficult to make enough money for all the girls in our group.
I created this yellow flower pin with that in mind. I just don't know if it's worth the time to put it up on Etsy, things don't seem to sell well there for some reason and it's a lot of work uploading photos and writing all the info etc. I'm also considering having a Flower Pin making party where the girls can all create flower pins for sale and I can put them up in Etsy also.
Any feedback is welcome.

Flowers and Hearts Block

2010-09-09T10:00:00.000-07:00

I'm doing a private 8 inch block exchange with the theme of Flowers and Hearts! I pieced this block to send to Kathy and she will send me one and we will embellish each others blocks and send them back to each other by 14 Feb. 2011! Why so far off a deadline for one block? Well because we are both busy as all anything!!! LOL If we happen to get it finished sooner that's great but no rush, no pressure, just fun relaxed sharing our work with one another!

2010 ESD Enchanted Challenge: Fairy Treasure - Update, Heart Necklace

2010-09-08T10:00:00.000-07:00

I added some straight stitches in gold holographic sulky thread! I may add more to the lace etc. later. I never really have a solid plan as I work it's kinda organic and free flowing, I go with what feels right and sometimes I have to wait awhile before I know what will go perfectly.
I've been learning a lot about myself, and my style of work as I'm working on this challenge piece. Starting to understand why I get stuck and what helps me get out of that and how my creativity flows and such. It's funny how art can reflect life too some of the same reasons for being stuck in my creative process are the same reasons I get stuck in other areas. And how a realization in one area helps the other area too! Sometimes I just marvel at how God created us like that! Truly we are fearfully and wonderfully made!
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. ~ Psalm 139:14

Here I added little gold bead caps with seed beads as little flowers in the vine!

I sewed on a crystal heart and used some of the challenge fiber as a necklace ribbon and tacked it on with gold holographic sulky thread! Above that is some of the challenge fiber ruched, sewn in place and a button added to the middle.

Here is a vine in progress I couched on the metallic thread. I'm adding beaded leaves and embossed beads along it to create a vine that winds through patches and the blocks helping to weave it all together.

Friendship Garden

2010-09-07T11:03:00.000-07:00

My dear friend Wendy agreed to help me make a friendship wall hanging! She is going to embellish 3 (the below photo) of the 6 six inch blocks and I'm going to embellish 3 (the above photo) and then I'll combine them into a wall hanging of our friendship!
We've all heard the saying "Friends are the flowers in the garden of life" well Wendy is one of the best flowers I could ever ask for! I'm grateful that God put her in my life, she is truly special and I treasure her gift of friendship to me!

Here they are in a baggie ready to go to Wendy!
We aren't having any time deadline to get them done just whenever no stress! I know they will get done at just the right time, things always seem to work out like that!

2010 ESD Enchanted Challenge: Fairy Treasure - Buttons, Jasmin, Maiden Hair Fern

2010-08-30T10:00:00.000-07:00

I added in some lost buttons with a scalloped chain stitch around them for a seam treatment.

For the Jasmine seam treatment I started by fiddling with a vintage rhinestone earring and I liked the curved shape when I saw it so I stitched it down and drew a wavy line down the rest of the seam and stitched that in stem stitch with a metallic thread. Then I added stems and ribbon stitch leaves, next I added three loop stitches with vintage rhinestones in the centers for the flowers. I used a veriagated 4mm ribbon that is cream with a hint of golden yellow.

I got the idea to try and create Maiden Hair Fern so I google searched images and I was sweetly surprised to see that it would be easy to do! You see Maiden Hair Fern stems look exactly like a feather stitch and I thought a ribbon stitch in 7mm that has a looped tip instead of a pointy tip would work perfect for the leaves! I used a spare needle to keep the loop tip in place as I created them. To create different sizes of leaves I varied from 1, 2 and 3 stitches side by side since the leaves are fan shaped.

2010 ESD Enchanted Challenge: Fairy Treasure - Honeysuckle

2010-08-29T10:00:00.000-07:00

I hand dyed some lace to add in, so both pieces of green lace you see in this post are a result of that!

I also added in a little flower (primula candelabra) that I learned from the book Silk Ribbon Embroidery by Ann Cox and it uses a stitch I've never done before for the flowers it's a french knot tipped ribbon stitch and right before you pierce the ribbon for the ribbon stitch you do a single wrap french knot! I just thought that flower looked cute poking up right there!

I also added in some ribbon stitch vines, which are my favorite!
I also sewed down a gold dipped leaf earring. I actually got the pair when I was a teen and visited the Black Hills! I don't wear earrings anymore so I've been saving them for use in CQ and this project seemed the perfect use!

Then I added a scallop to the lace and added honeysuckle flowers and leaves to the scallops!!! I love this idea I've never done honeysuckle before and none of my books have any that I loved so I made my own idea of honeysuckle! The stamens are twisted pistol stitch in gold 4mm ribbon and then I used a golden yellow 4mm ribbon and worked straight stitches for the petals two at the top and one at the bottom. The leaves I added are 7mm ribbon stitch. I'm thrilled with how it turned out!!!

The honeysuckle flowers darken to a golden yellow as they age.

2010 ESD Enchanted Challenge: Fairy Treasure - Pretty Bow

2010-08-28T10:00:00.000-07:00

Well finally inspiration has struck and creativity is flowing and I'm starting to get things done this challenge piece!
This bow fiber is a piece from the challenge packet and I was fiddling around and got the idea to try a bow with it and I really liked it so I started pinning and at first I wasn't sure if I wanted to go with it. I tend to get stuck with indecision about what I want to do and afraid that if I commit to it I may regret it later but then I realized what was going on and and decided that since I love it I should just DO it! So I started thinking about the seams underneath it and started to fill them in before sewing it down. All I do is unpin and do the seam and then re-pin after it's finished.
I also got the idea to add a key attached to the bow and I love the look of the jewelery finding in the center of the bow too.

The first seam I did was a simple feather stitch in dark green sulky holoshimmer thread.

Then I worked this seam in quarter buttonhole stitch with a thicker metallic thread and added tiny green seed pearls!
My little fairy, Peridot, loves to put little treasures she finds in the perfect spots in her garden! Who knows what treasures the key unlocks!?!

Teaching Crazy Quilting!

2010-08-27T17:45:00.000-07:00

Jessica wanted to learn Crazy Quilting and she had bought a little sewing machine and brought it over to learn to use! So I taught her how to piece a block! She is so excited about it! She started embellishing it too! She added a piece of vintage lace and started a seam treatment!
We used a wavy line and doubled it one wave will be light purple and the other wave will be pink! I taught her the chain stitch to work the waves in!

Pillow Cover Birthday Gift

2010-08-27T15:20:00.000-07:00

Wendy made Joseph a quilt for his birthday so I decided to make a pillow to go with it! What I love about Wendy's kids is that they LOVE handmade things just as much as cool toys and you know the made things will last longer!
What I did was cut out squares to fill an 18inch square and sewed them together. Because I used a large square for a BDU pocket I had to adjust the sizes of the other squares to make up for it. I'm "challenged" in the area of calculations so my wonderful hubby helped me out with that part! LOL Anyway I used reclaimed jean, plaid pants, BDU and ACU fabrics and added in a tie-dye fabric too!
It was a taste of traditional quilting for me and WOW does it really prove to me why I don't do traditional quilting! LOL But the reason I did it was that I wanted it to have the same square patch look as the quilt his Mom made.

I just sewed it together like the other pillow covers I've made are using the BDU and ACU fabrics.
Needless to say he LOVED it too!!!

Monogram Tote Bag: R

2010-08-13T17:07:00.001-07:00

Here is Robyn's tote bag! Her request was hearts so I cut out a bunch of hearts she also likes polka-dots so I coordinated different polka-dot prints with a floral print for the 'R'. Even the floral print has tiny little polka-dots as a background for the flowers! I also tied some eyelash yarn in a bow on the handle.

I used a heart for the hole of the 'R' as well to keep the heart theme going!
To add a little sparkle I sewed green and pink sequins on with invisible thread to polka-dot the inside of the 'R'.

Monogram Tote Bag: L

2010-08-12T15:08:00.000-07:00

Here is Leah's tote! For her's I chose a flower print for the 'L' and so I didn't want to cover it up. With that in mind I got the idea to cut out leaves and put them around the 'L'. I just cut out leaf shapes free-style in the green fabric and then cut out a second leaf shape to be either another leaf with it or a shadow to the green one, however you want to look at it. I just sewed them down by machine in the centers of the leaves using invisible thread.

I then got the idea to put a beaded edging around the 'L' which I just used the beaded back stitch (all by hand of course) and alternated a pearl with a tiny gold bead.

I also put a pretty floral gold heart bead on!

Teaching Embroidery & Tatting

2010-08-03T12:21:00.000-07:00

Jessica loves to do creative things and she wanted to learn embroidery! Well who can resist teaching someone who wants to learn? And who doesn't LOVE to teach something they love to do? So of course I got her started! LOL

She also wants to learn crazy quilting so this embroidered piece will be a center of a CQ pillow. It's purple flannel and we used an iron on for Sweet Dreams and the birds. I just showed her the back stitch and she was off!!! I got the idea for her to fill it in with seed stitch just to give it more substance but still be easy, she loved that idea too!
As she progresses with her project I'll keep you all updated!

Jessica also wanted to learn tatting! So I taught her! It's so rewarding to teach someone who is so determined to learn! I had sent her home with the homework of just practicing stitches in rings and leaving spaces between rings and then when she came over again she had them down and was ready to then learn picots so I have her practicing that now and next will be joining!

Amanda also wanted to learn tatting so I taught her as well! She also is determined to learn and she's a dancer so she's used to having to be coordinated so for her she learned a lot faster! I was able to send her home with the homework of practicing a simple one shuttle pattern 3+3-3-3 and WOW has she been practicing! She's improved her control so much just look at that edging hanging down her hand!!!
So she's going to stop by today and I'm going to teach her a double sided one shuttle pattern for her to practice and after that I'll move onto a Hen & Chicks pattern. I couldn't find a double sided pattern I really liked when tatting up a sample for her so I fiddled around with stitch counts and picot placement and came up with one that I liked it's 4+2-2-2-2-4 RW leave a 1/4 inch space of thread and continue. Of course I wrote out the pattern way more clear for her being a beginner! What I do for the girls is I draw a diagram, write out the pattern clearly, and attach a sample I tatted of the pattern. This pattern will teach her how to reverse her work and practice getting the spaces between rings even, as well as continuing to practice stitches, picots, and joining!

Monogram Tote Bag: E

2010-07-26T10:00:00.000-07:00

This Tote is for Elizabeth! She never has a favorite color for long because all the colors are her favorite! She also loves to do crafts etc. so I had to do her "E" crazy quilt style!

It was a bit of a challenge to piece being the odd shape it was! What I did was draw out the 'E' onto foundation fabric and then I started on the middle prong and pieced to the center and then went down and out the bottom prong and up and out the top prong. Of course I used ALL KINDS of fun fabrics because just like she likes all colors she likes all fabrics too! LOL

When I finished piecing I cut out the 'E' and sewed it onto the bag using the zig-zag stitch and a variegated green thread.

To embellish I sewed on a yellow butterfly applique, assorted buttons, a working locket she can add a photo to, a scissors charm, and a gold tone cross-stitch needle since it has a rounded tip!

I used a pink metallic thread and tied a knot at the end and a knot onto the end of the needle and put the knot on the top of the fabric to be seen and then did some running stitch randomly until I got the needle to where it would stay. Once in the spot I took beading thread and tacked down the eye so that the needle can't fall out!

It can't get any more perfect and fitting than that!
I just know she will love it!

Monogram Tote Bag: A

2010-07-25T10:00:00.000-07:00

Here is Ashlee's Tote! She said she loves purple and black combination so what I did was use a pale lavender with a pretty swirly print and contrasted it against the black and white polka-dot stars! I stitched it all down with invisible thread!
The dangle for the handle is a fancy black yarn that has shimmer too!

I added a cool vintage button to one star a darker shade of purple button with bugle beads to another star and added a little aqua button with a trail of silver seed beads to the last star!

Monogram Tote Bag: K

2010-07-24T10:00:00.000-07:00

Here is Kaity's Tote! Kaity loves the new Alice in Wonderland movie and loves the Mad Hatter so I used that as inspiration for her tote. She also loves purple!
For the dangle from the handle I created a faux fob with a bit of fabric I just running stitched along and gathered, a green bead, a yo-yo and a circular flower.

I stitched the "K" down with invisible thread, and created a shabby flower with scraps of fabric. I think the colors and frayed fabrics with the strip green leaves and the velveteen leaves and the green tatting are what make it look like something the Mad Hatter would make! I just cut out the leaves in the shape of a leaf and sewed them down the middle with the invisible thread!

The tote needed a little something more so I got the idea to make a patched butterfly too! I just winged it and cut out the shape of the wings in scraps and fiddled with placement, then sewed those down and then put the body piece over that and sewed down the middle. The little antennae I just cut a v shape scrap and snipped a v out the middle.

Don't you just love the shabby flower? The frayed pink print with the polka dot on top of the purples just seem too perfect and adding the tatting in too...!!! LOVE!

Monogram Tote Bag: F

2010-07-23T18:58:00.000-07:00

Okay here is one of the tote bags I've been making, I had a marathon of them the last couple days since there are a ton of b-days coming up!!!
This one is for Fallon and she loves purple so I used the dark purple fabric with the gold swirl print for the "F". Then I took a fat quarter fabric that had some sweet prints of flowers on it and cut out the pretty purple flower. I also used a piece of lace from my bits'n'pieces stash. I sewed around all the edges using straight stitch setting and invisible thread! Don't let that fool you all the curves I had to go around on the flower...tons of work!

I added gold seed beads to the centers of the purple flowers and attached a metal butterfly!
The dangle from the strap is some eyelash yarn, ric-rack and white lace.

Monogram Tote Bag: S

2010-07-22T13:07:00.000-07:00

I did this monogrammed tote bag back in May for a birthday girl but never got a chance to blog it! LOL I also added a dangle to the strap but didn't get a chance to take a photo of it before it got gifted.
Stephanie LOVED it!
I just appliqued the black polka-dot fabric "S" with a zig-zag stitch with the raw edge then attached a couple of lace applique leaves and made a matching shabby-flower and attached it!
What I do for the monograms is search the fonts in Word until I find one that is simple and print it cut it out and then trace it onto fabric and cut that out! Easy!

2010 ESD Enchanted Challenge: Fairy Treasure - Puffy Silkie

2010-07-21T10:00:00.000-07:00

I finished doing the split stitch border with green 4mm silk ribbon, then I stitched down the jewelery findings. Next I noticed that the silkie was a bit wrinkled and thought hmm it might look nice if it was puffed a bit so I tried it out!

I just snipped a slit in the foundation fabric behind the silkie and stuffed fiberfill in it and stitched it back up!

I like the effect it feels kind of like a brooch being oval and puffed like that with the pretty border!

2010 ESD Enchanted Challenge: Fairy Treasure - Sewn Together

2010-07-20T12:48:00.000-07:00

Here's what Fairy Treasure is looking like all sewn together, I choose to sew all the blocks together before embellishment because I wanted a more wholeness effect rather than separate blocks and the best way to do that is to sew them all together first and then embellish from there as a whole piece. There is never a right or wrong way for crazy quilting only personal preference! Gotta love that!
It's really hard to photograph this piece with all the shades of green and surfaces of fabric the camera lens just doesn't see it the same as my eyes, some things look right and then other things look wrong so as I go along I'll be trying to figure out the best way to take photos too. Accurate photos always seem to be the thorn in my side! LOL Hey at least in these photos it seems that my textures turned out pretty well, you can see the texture of the silk velvet pieces really well which I purposely wrinkled up when piecing the blocks for the yummy soft effect.

I tacked the silkie down with invisible thread and then I started doing the split stitch around it with green silk ribbon. There are jewelery pieces that will be attached in spots over the split stitch boarder on the top-bottom-side-to-side, and from there I'll be creating vines coming out!
I'm trying to do as much as I can with this piece right away while I still have excitement fueling me because I know there will be times where I may get a little stuck and I want to give myself room to take my time during those moments without the deadline looming over me! LOL

2010 ESD Enchanted Challenge: Fairy Treasure - Keeping Me Company

2010-07-20T10:00:00.000-07:00

As I work on my Fairy Treasure project Madie likes to snooze under my sewing machine desk! She was there while I pieced and sewed it together and even now when I embellish! She's keeping me company! ;)

2010 ESD Enchanted Challenge: Fairy Treasure - Pieced Blocks

2010-07-17T13:16:00.001-07:00

I finished piecing the blocks and got them cut to proper size today! I believe this is the final configuration and it's ready to sew together! I bought a few new green fabrics that I also included so some centers aren't the same as I originally planned, but I think it's better!
The rules stated to use half the fabrics included in the package and there were 13 pieces and I used 7 all six of the greens and the shimmery-striped fabric that the fairy silkie will sit on. It was for sure a challenge because some of the greens weren't my fave shades so I had a puzzle to mix and match all the different shades of greens. I love how it turned out with lots of texture.
I also cut out the silkie in an oval shape and I love how the leaf beads look around the edge! I need to buy another string of the leaf beads! LOL I'm also thinking of ways to add more foliage around the silkie too.
As for my little background story I think my fairy's name will be either Emerald or Peridot I can't make up my mind which, but Peridot is a more golden-green so I think it may fit better. Which do you all think her name should be?

2010 ESD Enchanted Challenge: Fairy Treasure

2010-07-14T17:14:00.000-07:00

I just got my 2010 ESD Enchanted Challenge package in the mail!!! WOO I'm naming my mini-quilt "Fairy Treasure"! So excited to start working on it, I love all the greens I'm going to use for it! I just love the idea I got for the theme about lost treasures that this little fairy finds and is fascinated by so she gathers them and tucks them in safe little spots. And so this marks the beginning of a beautiful journey exploring her gorgeous green world!

A Dress for Elizabeth! ♥

2010-06-21T13:38:00.001-07:00

Elizabeth has a dance this week and it's a special one the Eighth Grade Prom, so she came over to work on a dress for it! What she found while going through my fabric stash were some formals that I had bought at the thrift store but hadn't cut yet! LOL After trying on lots of them this purple one seemed to be the closest fit and the easiest to alter! I don't sew clothing...so I had no clue how to go about fixing it so it would fit her...THEN...I had the idea to cut off the top part, cut off the straps, and fold down the remaining "top" so that it was rounded and reattach the straps! Even this seemed impossible to me but somehow we managed! HAHA What I did was have it on her fold it under to look the shape we wanted and then made a running stitch (by hand) along the top to hold it in place...then as I was doing that Elizabeth loved how it looked gathered so we ended up gathering the top front edge and that fixed the need to take in the sides too!!! I also did the running stitch around the back too but left if flat, then I hand sewed the straps into place and then later reinforced them with the sewing machine. THEN Elizabeth had the idea to tie something around the waist and so we found a white ribbon and tacked it onto the dress on a seam and then it gets tied around the waist after she gets it on (there are no zippers etc. it's a slip on dress)! OH and Hubby helped by hemming the bottom! ♥
After we finished working out all the kinks of the dress we cut a piece of white lace from my stash for her to use as a wrap or like she did in the photo below tie it in the back to look like a bolero or shrug.
Voila! Two non-seamstresses but very creative gals created a pretty good looking formal if I do say so myself! LOL

Craft Room Update

2010-06-14T16:51:00.001-07:00

I've been slowly improving my craft room it's cool looking back through my posts on it's progress! It's still not completely finished but I got a huge part of it up and running and it's a dream come true!
Above is a photo as you walk in the door! The board on top of the little chest of drawers is padded fabric and can be ironed on! How perfect is that!

As you can see it's a U (well more like J haha) with my work station in front of the window that's where I'll do my embroidery and embellishment etc. Then a little swivel to the right and I have my sewing machine, and a little swivel to the right again the padded board for ironing as I piece! And I can always set up the ironing board there too! The little desk that the sewing machine is on we got at Staples it's just a little cheepie computer desk that we didn't install the keyboard slide out so it's the perfect depth!

I have my cork board which I pinned a bunch of swap items and pretty things but I also put a couple of push pins up to hold my current project to get it out of the way, the square Q-snap sits right on them!
Right next to the door I have a Design Wall hanging you can see the Tree Project on it right now. It's supposed to hold blocks on it without using pins but my cream blocks are too heavy to stay up for too long, if I want it to stay up longer term I still need to pin.
Then my hubby put up shelves for me to have my supplies in reaching distance! Wow did they make a huge difference! I gained and freed up a ton of space just from having them put up! Now the bookshelf I had a lot of my supplies on is free for all my various embroidery, crazy quilting, beading, tatting, etc. books as well as other things!

On the door I got a hanger for the iron and ironing board when not needed!
Also I got hooks to store my hoops using vertical space! Now they aren't stacked somewhere with the possibility of getting lost under things or cluttering up space!

A Sweet Ballerina CQ Heart: Tutu & Flower

2010-05-13T16:38:00.001-07:00

I kept adding to the gift for Bekah she's gonna LOVE LOVE LOVE everything! Here's the Tutu I bought and then I made a shabby flower pin with shading to look like the roses in the Ballerina Heart!
Her birthday party is this weekend so I'm going to try to get a vid of her when she opens the gift, she is so cute and gets so excited about all her gifts that it's fun to watch! We always say we should get her on video! LOL

Monogram Tote Bag: J

2010-05-13T13:31:00.000-07:00

Here is yet another Tote bag for a birthday girl in my Small Group!
Her fave color was purple so I created a purple shabby flower to embellish her monogram. She also loved polka dots so I chose a green with white polka dot fabric for the J I thought it would compliment nicely. Then I had a piece of Hen & Chicks Tatted Edging that I had tatted and saved in my stash and since Jessica is creative herself and does crochet I thought she would enjoy some tatting, who knows she may want to learn to tat! She already wants to learn embroidery! LOL
Anyway I used purple fabrics for the shabby flower and a printed organza that had purple flowers on it. I cut out the flowers out of the print and the frayed sheerness of the organza acted like a lace element! I used a large purple bead in the center of the flower! I also made a small bud to go with the flower and it is using a small flower shape with some scraps of the organza in the center just gathered in the center.
Then on the handle I tied some strips of the organza fabric and a strip of purple fabric!

A Sweet Ballerina CQ Heart: Framed

2010-05-10T09:00:00.000-07:00

With Rebekah's birthday coming up I framed the Sweet Ballerina CQ Heart! I also ordered a light blue Tutu to go with it!
On the back I put a pretty wrapping paper and then printed a label that reads "To Rebekah, A sweet ballerina who will always be my friend! Love, Melissa"

Fabric & Lace Flower: Black and Silver

2010-04-17T12:16:00.001-07:00

This flower I made for a bridal shower where the bride's colors are Silver and Black! I know she'll love it! I glued a pin-back on the back of it.

I made this one a little differently by making 3 of the larger flower blobs 2 of them the silver fabric and 1 is lace fabric. Then in the center I also did lace fabric strips but I also created a tassel using a thin black lace and silver metallic thread then attached that to the center gathered it up and then added a button to the center!

Fabric & Lace Flower

2010-04-16T14:54:00.000-07:00

I saw a really pretty flower tutorial and just had to try my version of it!!! Here is a link to the Shabby Flower Tutorial. I didn't care for the center of hers so I did it a little differently by adding a tatted flower that I made a long time ago and it sat in my stash waiting to be used and a pearl thingy-ma-bob (it's not a button but it's not a bead either but it had a metal eye sticking out one end).

I did like she said and cut 2 larger (9 petal) blob shaped flowers, and 1 each of a medium (7 petal) and a small (5 petal) blob shaped flowers and crumpled and frayed them. (I made my small one too small so I had to re-cut it. Make each size just barely smaller than the other.) Then I added lace bits and sewed it all together added the tatting stitched it on and added the pearl thingy. Then I went around the back and gathered it like she said. But there I stopped I didn't do any gluing but I did tie some pink eyelash yarn around the pearl.
Now I'll just back it with a pin-backing and either use it as a pin or a pendant. You could use this for anything really I could even see sewing this (or a smaller version) down onto a crazy quilt.

Monogram Tote Bag: A

2010-04-14T00:46:00.001-07:00

Here is another monogrammed tote for one of my small group girls!
I had seen one of the blogs in my feed (Allie's in Stitches) had mentioned Broderie Perse which got me interested so I google searched about it! It's a form of applique using a printed fabric that you cut out the print and applique it onto another fabric.

So having this in the back of my head I got the idea to use a floral print for the decorations on this monogram! I just cut around the print and took the easy route by raw edge appliqueing it with invisible thread and a straight stitch on my sewing machine!

I think it gives it a pretty yet edgy feel and I think it looks sorta Shabby Chic-ish! LOL

I also tied a strip of the fabric with the raw edges frayed into a bow on the handle.

More New Couch Pillow Covers

2010-04-06T12:50:00.001-07:00

I had started some Pillow Covers for our couch and had finished sewing up the floral print covers, then I found the perfect fabric to compliment it had prepped it (pre-washed, cut out all the pieces) and then it sat unfinished for almost a year!!! So I finally dug it out and started sewing them together. It's a pretty cream fabric with a lace print on it. I know it's hard to see but if you click on the photos you can see a little better. Here's the link to the Pillow Cover Tutorial.

Fabric Flower Fun!

2010-04-05T13:24:00.000-07:00

I found a Fabric Flower Tutorial that I loved and decided to make some! I liked the look of the double flowers in this flower tutorial in a smaller fashion but prefer the method of petal mading in this flower tutorial. The bottom layer has 6 petals, and the top layer has 3 petals with a button or bead in the middle! Then I either sewed a loop of fabric or elastic onto the back, but pretty much anything can be attached to the back to use them in tons of ways!

To make the different sizes I just used different round objects to create the circles the same way you'd make different size yo-yo's.

The smaller flowers I used a spool of thread for the circle.

This is a small one with elastic on the back that I slipped onto my new puppy Ginger's tiny collar.

This bigger flower I used a 1/3 Cup measuring cup for the circle it has a fabric loop on the back and I slipped it onto my pink pearls for a pendent.

Here's another on my dog Madie's collar it also has elastic on the back. She didn't like the bigger flowers so I made a small one using a spool of thread for the circles so that she barely notices it on her collar.
I also made one for Bekah in a blue floral fabric with a big blue bead in the center and made it a headband by attaching a large elastic loop custom fit for her head.

Cream Tea Cozy Finished!!!

2010-04-02T16:18:00.000-07:00

I finally finished the finishing touches to my Cream Tea Cozy and sewed it up!

A Sweet Ballerina CQ Heart: Finish

2010-03-16T18:14:00.000-07:00

I've finished my work on the Sweet Ballerina Heart! Now all that is left is to frame it!
I added light blue bugle beads to the seam treatment on the left, and I added a Silk Ribbon Embroidery Motif that I created using sweetheart roses, french knot loop flowers, ribbon stitch leaves, and pink Swarovski crystals.
Then I made the heart into an applique (here is a link to how I did that) and I added a couple of bits of lace on opposite edges!

Monogram Tote Bag: K

2010-03-07T14:23:00.000-08:00

We have another birthday in our Small Group so I created another monogrammed tote bag this time with a 'K'!

Krystal loves green so I cut out the 'K' in green with polka dots fabric and then cut another fabric around that sort of like a matting. Then I sewed it onto the tote using a zig-zag stitch. Then I added a piece of hand dyed cheese cloth and a purple yo-yo with green sequin stars in the center. Then I cut a strip of the cheese cloth and a strip of purple organza and tied a bow to the handle!

French Knot Loop Flower

2010-03-06T16:33:00.000-08:00

Here is a video for the French Knot Loop flower in Silk Ribbon Embroidery.
Enjoy!
Here is a link to the video on YouTube:
French Knot Loop Flower in SRE

FAQ: Silk Ribbon Embroidery

2010-03-05T10:00:00.000-08:00

What does SRE stand for? ~ Silk Ribbon Embroidery

Do you have Tutorials for SRE? ~ Yes, here is the link: Silk Ribbon Embroidery Tutorial Archive

Where can I find SRE patterns? ~ Honey Bee's Silk Ribbon Embroidery Patterns these are my very own creations for you to use. Please give me credit for the pattern and do not sell the pattern or use commercially, Thank You. You can also search online for SRE patterns or use vintage patterns by interpreting the pattern for SRE (example - flower circles could be spiderweb roses, small flowers could be sweetheart roses or knot flowers, leaves could be interpreted in lazy daisy stitch or ribbon stitch instead).

What SRE books do you recommend? ~ Here is a link to some of my favorite embroidery books including SRE: My Favorite Embroidery Books

Do you need special fabric for Silk Ribbon Embroidery? ~ No you don't need special fabric for silk ribbon embroidery. A good rule of thumb for choosing fabric to work on is any fabric that your needle (usually size 22 chenille for 4mm silk ribbon) can pass through you can use.

I'm having trouble pulling my needle through the fabric, what's wrong? ~ Make sure you are using the correct size needle, size 22 chenille for 4mm silk ribbon and larger or smaller if using 7mm or 2mm silk ribbon. ~ If it's just being a little tough try using some little round rubber needle grabbers that you can get in the quilting section. ~ Another thing to check is sometimes when doing a knot you can tighten too much and it makes it hard to pull through, remember to loosely tighten so it's tightened just enough to look right but not too loose that it falls out. ~ One last thing is make sure you are using silk ribbon and not polyester ribbon it makes a huge difference, polyester is too heavy and thick.

How do long or short do you leave your beginning and ending tails in the back and how to you secure them? ~ You only need to leave the tails long enough to secure it either with another needle and thread or by piercing it as you work. Here are some links that show those methods: Getting Started in Silk Ribbon Embroidery (Includes How to Iron, Thread Needle, Knot/No Knot) Straight Stitch/Padded Straight Stitch (Includes Piercing the Tail)

Do I end off or drag the ribbon to the next working spot? Example - If making leaves on either side of a rose, do you tie off each separately or drag the ribbon across the back? ~ In this case the leaves are probably very close together and you can just drag the ribbon to the next leaf spot. Usually if the length between stitches is above an inch it's better to end it off and start fresh at the next spot and coming back later with another needle and thread to secure the tail. It also depends on the stitch if it's easily snagged as well, if it is then it's better to be safe and take another needle and thread and secure the tail in the back instead of dragging.

Where can I find/buy Silk Ribbon? ~ Silk Ribbon can be hard to find you can look for it in any craft store but you may need to visit a specialty needlework store, or buy online. I usually find that the best prices and easiest access is Online. I have a few links to Online Shops that sell silk ribbon Here. Don't compromise and just get polyester ribbon it has a completely different thickness and feel to it. Once you use actual silk ribbon the difference between it and polyester ribbon is like night and day! Do some research and find a sale or good deal for silk ribbon online you'll have a much better time doing SRE if you have the right tools. Brands that I've used and consider good quality are: River Silks, YLI, RibbonSmyth, ThreadArt, Bucilla. (No affiliation, just have used their products for myself and liked them)

***I'll update the FAQ's as I receive more questions, feel free to ask me and I'll do my best to answer.

A Sweet Ballerina CQ Heart: Progress

2010-03-04T13:27:00.000-08:00

I've been working and working and working and so far here is what I've done!
I added a bow to her costume and some netting to her bodice along with a rose done with a bead in the center and straight stitches around it in a similar fashion as a bullion rose is made.

I wanted to mimic the lace crossing on the ballet slippers so I used a metallic silver thread!
I also created a bullion rose motif with little daisies and forget-me-nots!

I stitched in the ballet slippers with satin stitch and straight stitches. Of course every ballerina needs music to dance too so I created a musical note seam treatment using straight stitches and lazy daisy's for the round parts of the notes. I also did a little bullion knot rose bud with stem stitch stem and lazy daisy leaves.
I also added a little braid that used the same colors as I'm using on the little pink fabric seam!

A Sweet Ballerina CQ Heart for a Sweet Ballerina!

2010-03-02T23:52:00.000-08:00

The other day Rebekah was visiting and saw hanging on my wall a CQ heart and she exclaimed that she loved it and asked if I would make her one! LOL Granted she is 5 years old (about to be 6 soon) but she is also my friend! ;) Another amazing thing about Rebekah is even though she is still a little girl she already appreciates embroidery and crazy quilting! I have a video of her when she was 3 years old enjoying a block and she still enjoys seeing what I'm working on and what her Mom is working on too!

Rebekah by the way is a ballerina and I've even gotten to take her to dance class before and she always loves the ballerina figurines they have in a case there. She also loves blue! So I searched through my image collections and found this pretty blue ballerina and printed her onto fabric and pieced up this heart. The fabrics are really difficult to capture the true colors, I feel that the print and the rose print fabric are accurate, but the green print is a bit too bright in this photo and the blue Dupioni silk looks a bit darker then in person as well in the top photo. In the photo below I feel shows more of the softness of the colors better and the blue Dupioni silk. It's a very soft sweet block and I hope I can eventually capture an accurate photo.

Lillian's Hankie Block: Finished

2010-02-25T12:33:00.001-08:00

I've been working on Lillian's Hankie Block for a few weeks and it's finally finished! Now I'll be looking for a frame to do it justice! If you'd like to see everything closer click on the photos.
I added bead work to the hankies, on the purple flowers I added green beads to the centers and on the blue flower hankies I added pink seed beads to polka dot it and I removed the pearls I had added previously.
I created SRE motifs on either side on the doilies using the sweetheart rose (pink), fly stitch fern (light green), some ribbon stitch flowers (dark blue), beads for sparkle, pearls, and I tried a new stitch a loop with a knot that turned into a wisteria flower using different amount of wraps french knots (light blue).
I also embellished the silkie by adding loops and ribbon stitches for the bows on the ladies. I also added some beads to the lilac in one of the ladies hair, and appliqued some lace for her shawl as well!

Monogram Tote Bag

2010-01-26T12:58:00.000-08:00

Every year I like to create a gift for our small group girls that is something they all get yet I can personalize it to each one as well. So here is another Monogrammed Tote! This girl is a new girl who I've only met a few times so as I was putting it together I was trusting that the Lord was helping me create something that she would love.
What I did was go through my fonts in Word and picked the one I liked best, printed it out, then traced it onto the black and pink polka dot fabric, and cut it out. Then I appliqued it using my sewing machine with a zig-zag stitch made of small stitches because I wanted to fray the edge. It's not perfectly done, but that adds to the edgy-yet-pretty style I wanted.
I used some white vintage ruffle lace to tie onto the handle and also a little piece patched onto the 'C'. Then I attatched a flip-flop charm, and a mother of pearl carved bird nesting at the top!

I hope Correna loves it, and that it helps her feel welcomed as a part of our small group!

Lillian's Hankie Block: Progress

2010-01-15T11:43:00.000-08:00

I don't usually keep track of how many hours it takes me to finish a piece so I'm trying to diligently keep track of time as I work on this block! So far I've spent 5 hours on it.

I added pearls to the blue and pink hankies!

I also added onto the seam treatment around the silkie. I used pastel pink TESS Sleave Silk thread in lazy daisy stitch with 2 small straight stitches on either side! Then I used a small bugle bead in pastel blue at the top of each scallop.

I think the seam treatment gives the silkie a pretty frame!

At the top I created a running stitch flight path in 1 strand of variegated floss. A butterfly in variegated 4mm silk ribbon using two lazy daisy stitches and two ribbon stitches with a couple of straight stitches in the floss for antenna.

For a touch of color in the lace around the silkie, no beads or stitches looked right there so what I did was create "shadow work" by using the blue 4mm silk ribbon in one large straight stitch beneath the tip of the lace and then tacking it down from the top of the lace. What it creates is just a hint of color through the lace!

Lillian's Hankie Block: Beginning Work

2010-01-13T11:41:00.000-08:00

I've finally picked up Lillian's Hankie block and started working on it! First I've had it hanging near my work space for about 6 months, here is a link to when it first arrived. I always gave it a little thought every time I saw it, as to how I was going to embellish it and didn't really feel confident to start work until I had a solid idea to work around. I did need to back it with some muslin because it was very light and almost sheer. Then I talked about it with a dear friend (Wendy) who also crazy quilts, I think that was the most valuable tool to get me started! Bouncing ideas and talking about the feel of the block and what I could do or why I wouldn't want to do certain things was the most helpful thing I could do! A lot of people do SRE over the top of prints to make them 3D but I felt that would ruin the whole aim which is showing off the hankies, so I decided that I'll do little touches to the prints to bring the eye to them but not cover over them. Also anything really large, bulky or motif like is out of the question and would just take over the block, so I started thinking...How am I going to embellish it? I came to the conclusion that the block is pretty much perfect as is, so all it needs is little touches to make things pop, which is a lot different than most blocks which are usually blank canvases! The blocks really do "tell you what they want" in a sense, and all it takes is some deductive reasoning! LOL Anyway this block wants to be very dainty, not over done, just enhancing it's natural beauty!

The first idea that came to me was the birds nest, Lillian really loved the idea of finding a nest during a walk. At first I pulled a few threads to mix together but as I started stitching it in, using a stem stitch and a metallic thread it seemed perfect just like that. I added some tiny size 15 blue seed beads for little eggs. The next idea was the scallops around the print and I made them using a small button and traced half of it repeatedly and worked it in stem stitch using 1 strand of light green YLI silk floss. I plan to embellish the scallops further later on. Then I had the idea to add light green size 15 seed beads along the 2 long sides and all the green really pulls out the embroidered flowers which were originally on the hankie edge.

It's really hard to capture what the eye sees in photos, and even though these photos look really well the block and work looks even better in person.
I had an idea to tack the hankies with the pink flowers with three straight stitches in a green to match the leaves and a size 15 bead that matches the flower color perfectly. One at the tip of the corner and 2 more in dips on the sides.

Tatted Snowflake: Ornament 3

2010-01-07T19:13:00.000-08:00

I tatted up another snowflake from the book Festive Snowflakes and Ornaments for Needle and Shuttle Tatters. This one is #3 on page 6, it's also 1 shuttle design which is pretty much the same pattern as #13 except that the threads aren't joined. I really love both variations! I tatted it up in DMC Cebelia thread size 30 in Snow White. The negative space on each is really pretty to me!
To get the thread spaces more even what I did was use the method of putting 2 dots on my finger in the recommended measurement, so I didn't have to get out a measuring tool for every one.

Tatted Snowflake: Ornament 2

2010-01-06T10:00:00.000-08:00

I tatted up another snowflake from the book Festive Snowflakes and Ornaments for Needle and Shuttle Tatters. This one is #13 on page 19, it's a 1 shuttle design that I absolutely love! It's so cute! I tatted it up in DMC Cebelia thread size 30 in Snow White. I was originally thinking of doing lots of different patterns but I love this one so much I might tat up a few!

Tatted Snowflake: Ornament 1

2010-01-05T10:00:00.000-08:00

Wanting some more tatting on my tree I got the book Festive Snowflakes and Ornaments for Needle and Shuttle Tatters and I marked out a few that I want to make, the first one is #7 on page 12! I tatted it up in DMC Cebelia thread size 30 in Snow White. I worked the pattern with 2 shuttles instead of the original 1 shuttle + ball and doing SLT, it looks a little different because of that but I still love it!
I'd like to have a good tree full of tatted snowflakes for next year so if anyone knows of any nice small 1 round snowflake patterns with pointy tips please share the link!

Craft Room Update

2010-01-04T10:00:00.000-08:00

I got this lighter looking embroidered curtain at WalMart I think it works better than the old one, though I do need to get a second one to fit the window better. We just got a skylight to put into my craft room too!!!

Pink Block Framed Dec. 2009

2010-01-03T09:40:00.000-08:00

Back in 2008 I had finished a 6 inch pink block (Pink Block) and thought I would turn it into a purse and had gotten to this semi-finished stage just waiting to be sewn up...well it sat...and sat...and then we moved...and fixed up our guest bathroom (still in progress need to update with newer photos) I'm making a white tatted edging towel for the bathroom...and as I was thinking of how to decorate said bathroom more and I remembered my pink and white block!!! I grabbed one of my ready-made-art "frames" that I bought at a discount store gutted the art, painted the frame white with spray paint, created a matting with pink fabric, and voila a pink and white art piece!!! It took almost 2 years but now I can say it's a completely finished piece! Yay!

Sweet Dreams Pillowcase Set

2010-01-02T15:14:00.000-08:00

I finally finished one of the Sweet Dreams pillowcases, I don't know when I'll work on the other, they are a ton of work just one of the large letters would be enough as a monogram but 2 + more letters for the words is a ton! LOL I started using a hoop to help it not pucker as I fill in the letters with stem stitch using 2 strands black floss.